Growing up, Alan Ritchson lived all over the United States. He was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, but the family didn’t stay there long. After living in Illinois for a spell, they eventually settled in Niceville, Florida, which is located on the panhandle. Speaking to Netscape Celebrity, he revealed that his father — who was a U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant at the time, hence all the moving around — actually gave him a say in the matter when it came to moving. “Early on, we were at an Air Force Base near Champagne, Illinois,” he said. “Then we had the choice of moving to California or Florida. We had a family meeting about it, and my parents said, ‘Would you rather go out where there are earthquakes and the desert, or Niceville?'”
Of course, he would eventually end up in California for the sake of his acting career. However, Ritchson still lives a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, as he revealed via The Wall Street Journal in December 2023. “Today, my wife, Cat, and I live with our three boys on the road,” Ritchson said. “Being away from my family for long stretches on location was hard on them and me. So Cat and I recently sold our Florida house and we now live in Airbnbs and hotels while I’m on set. Cat home-schools the boys, who are 11, 9 and 7.” Just like Jack Reacher, Ritchson has opted to be something of a drifter. However, unlike Reacher, he’s not a lone wolf — he has his loving family to return to at the end of the working day.
